Mortal remains of Jaffer Sharief laid to rest with full state honour
Bengaluru, November 26: The mortal remains of former union railway minister and senior Congress leader CK Jaffer Sharief who died on Sunday laid to rest at the Khuddus Sab Kabristan in the city on Monday with full state honour.
The body of Sharief was brought to KPCC office on Queens Road from his house at Coles Park in the city. KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao, Mayor Gangambike, Minister UT Khader, MLA NA Haris, Former speaker Veeranna Mattikatti, Former minister Vinay Kulkarni and other leaders paid their homage to the departed soul.
Later, the body was taken to the Khuddus Sab Eidgah Maidan at Benson Town. At this time, in front of Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, Opposition Leader in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, Former chief minister Siddaramaiah and other leaders, the police fired three rounds in the air to pay the respect from the government along with the police band. Later, Ameer E Shariat Maulana Sageer Ahmed Khan Rashadi offered Janaza prayer and Khatib Moulana Abdul Khader Sha Wazid of Juma Masjid offered Dua.
Former union minister Dr K. Rahman Khan, AICC general secretary K.C Venugopal, Speaker K.R Ramesh Kumar, Legislative Council Chairman Basavaraj Horatti, Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan, Former ministers Roshan Baig, SR Patil, Rajya Sabha Member Dr Syed Nasser Hussein, MLCs CM Ibrahim, Naseer Ahmed, Rizwan Arshad paid their tributes to the leader.
After janaza namaz, the body of Sharief was brought to Khuddus Sab Kabristan on Nandidurga road at Jayamahal and laid to the rest in front of hundreds of his fans, family members and political leaders.
“Not only Karnataka, but the entire country has lost a great statesman. He was the voice of the minorities across the country. But now, we do not have that voice with us. Such leaders should come in more number to serve the community”.
- Naseer Ahmed, MLC
“Jaffer Sharief has dedicated his complete life to serve the community. As the MP and union minister, he has contributed a lot for the state and country. His service would be remembered forever. I would discuss with the government to announce any one of the programmes in his name. Political differences and human relationships are totally different. His demise is a great loss to the state and the country”.
- Dr K Rahman Khan, Former Union Minister
“I would appeal the state government, especially, the minority welfare department to announce a programme in his name in order to make his name eternal. There is a need to introduce the personalities who served the society to the next generation”.
- CM Ibrahim, MLC
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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